


friendly advice

by buffays



Category: Friends (TV)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, LGBT Themes, Lesbian Rachel Green, chandler is chandler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 11:30:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17099777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buffays/pseuds/buffays
Summary: Chandler just wants to understand how it begins.





	friendly advice

It’s half past midnight on a thursday, Monica has already gone to bed, Rachel is finishing her glass of wine while the ending credits of the movie they were watching scroll down the TV. Technically, Chandler should be home by now, but he knows Joey had a date with the hot waitress tonight, therefore Joey is going to take her home,  _ therefore _ Chandler wouldn’t be getting any actual sleep.

He doesn’t mind it for the most part, Joey bringing women to their apartment that is, of course the noise can be bothersome -- specially during the weekdays -- but Chandler considers himself good breakfast company and more often than not the ladies are in an incredibly good mood. 

Chandler hadn’t had the chance to be alone with Rachel since she  _ told  _ them. It’s been a few weeks, they were gathered at Monica’s apartment to watch the latest  _ Days of our lives _ episode, Julie had been too busy to come and Richard had left a little earlier, so it was just the six of them. Right after it finished Rachel had gotten up, paced around nervously and let out a  _ “I have something important to tell you guys.” _ before taking a deep breath and coming out.

Coming out. It was an odd thing to say regarding one of his closest friends. Rachel came out. It doesn’t sound right, not yet at least. It’s not like he could’ve had predicted it either, it’s  _ Rachel.  _ Chandler’s experience with lesbians is limited to Carol and Susan, and Rachel is just not like them at all. His experience with  _ other _ kinds of… gay people? is just his dad and the guy from his office who hit on him once. 

He wouldn’t say he reacted badly, not compared to Ross at least (who seemed very reluctant to accept that yet another girl who he likes is incapable of liking him back), he was just surprised that’s all. Rachel had cried a bit and asked them to promise to  _ please don’t treat me any differently I’m still me _ . At first it was hard for him to wrap his head around it, but there was a new lightness in the way Rachel carried herself, so it was impossible to do anything but support her in this new chapter of her life.

He’s curious about it though.

“Hey Rach?” 

She turns to him and she looks so tired he feels a little guilty for still being there. “Yes?”

“How did you, you know,  _ know? _ ” Chandler hates himself for how awkward that came out. “That you’re not-- not like--”   
“That I’m a lesbian?” She teases him, small smile on her lips.

“Well. Yeah.” He pauses, fidgets with the sleeve of his shirt for a moment. “You don’t have to talk about it though, if you don’t want to.”

“It’s okay honey.” Rachel sets her glass on the table and moves to sit beside him. He can tell she’s a bit tipsy from the drinks she’s had, not enough to impair anything but enough that she leans back on the couch and sighs. “I think, somehow it’s always been there.” 

She leans forward again, puts her hand on Chandler’s knee. “I tried to not think about it for a long time. I went on dates with guys, I had relationships, I was engaged! And then on the wedding day I finally admitted to myself: I had never been attracted to Barry, and I never would be.” 

Rachel pauses and sighs. “Then I got here and there was the thing with Carol and Susan and it was like a switch had been turned on inside my head, that women were a possibility and that it was  _ okay. _ ” Another pause. “I spent  _ so so  _ long just-- just repressing it you know? Pretending that I was happy and satisfied, that I was  _ normal _ . But that wasn’t me.”

Those words seem to sink heavy in Chandler’s stomach and he can’t pinpoint why. It’s almost uncomfortable, not because of Rachel, but he’s not sure he wants to find out the source of it.

“But  _ then _ at their wedding, with all these women who were happy and comfortable and free, I was able to admit to myself that that was what I wanted: to be at the altar with the most beautiful woman in the room.”

Rachel takes a shaky breath and Chandler can tell that she’s close to tears, so he wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her close, leaning her head on his chest. “Rach, we’re very proud of you, ok?” He kisses the top of her head. “And we love you no matter what.”

He hugs her a little tighter. “We’ll be there, you know. Monica and Phoebe will be there standing next to you, and if you want I can even walk you down the aisle.” 

Rachel laughs a bit at that and wipes a couple of tears off her cheeks. “Thank you, Chandler.” She furrows her eyebrows and puts his hand between hers. “I know that this  _ gay _ stuff isn’t easy for you, because of your childhood and everything, but thank you. For being here for me.”

“Rach, my family related emotional baggage is  _ my _ family related emotional baggage. And you are you. And I’m here to help you in your lesbian affairs.” He makes a face, realizing how weird that sounds. “ _ Not _ in the way Joey wants to help you, I promise.”

She chuckles at that, lets go of his hand and gets up. “Thank you, sweetie.” She starts gathering the other glasses off the table, still sniffling a bit. “Now, let’s go to bed, shall we? It’s getting late and we both have work tomorrow.”

“Yeah yeah true, hopefully Joey is asleep by now and I’ll be able to get some rest.” He begins to help her finish cleaning the coffee table and after he’s finished and is about to open the door, Rachel speaks again.

“Hey Chandler? Why did you ask about that, by the way.” 

And truth is, he isn’t sure. He just felt the need to know, understand. “I don’t know. Guess I was just curious.”

She doesn’t answer immediately and and he doesn’t turn around to look at her. “Chan? If there’s anything you want to talk about, I’m here to listen okay?”

He prefers not to think about what Rachel means by that, so he just nods and heads back to his own home for the night. 

**Author's Note:**

> TT i havent published anything in 2 years but im going through another friends phase and i cant stop thinking about how rachel shouldve been a lesbian. and that chandler is the most repressed person on earth. set during s2 (ross and rachel never happened). ill probably try to write smth longer on this later but i wanted to publish smth anyways!! leave a kudo and a comment if you'd like i appreciate it


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